Rare Books Collection
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The Rare Book Collection is a broad one, useful for both instructional and research endeavors. The collection represents the range of the written word from early manuscripts and incunabula to modern first editions and fine press books. While containing rare books of every genre, the areas of subject strength are North American Indians, early travel and exploration, 18th century British literature and the history of the book.
Noteworthy collections include 18th century British anonymous poetical pamphlets, the Charles J. Livingood Petrarch Collection, the Enoch T. Carson Shakespeare Collection, fine press editions of William Blake, a collection of Charles Dickens first issues and editions, the Edward S. Curtis portfolios of American Indians, pochoir volumes, D.H. Lawrence correspondence, Ambrose Bierce letters, and the manuscript notebooks of Irish theatre historian William J. Lawrence. In addition, the department houses the rare books of the John Miller Burnam Classics Library.
On Thursday, February 23, our monthly “50 Minutes – 1 Book” lunchtime talk from 12-12:50 in 814 Blegen Library will feature Oliver Twist, Dickens’ bleakly black comic novel featuring said Oliver, Fagin, and the Artful Dodger.
The William J. Lawrence Irish Theatre History Notebooks (under construction)
The Ambrose Bierce Letters Project
Historical Textbook Collection
Just a bit of fun – a new technology
View images of the commemorative artists' binding for the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the opening of Blegen Library
Spooky Collections in UC’s Blegen Library a Tempting Haunt for Halloween [10/23/06]
Women's History: A Selected Bibliography from the Holdings of the Archives & Rare Books Library
Exhibits
- The Art of the Pochoir Book
- The Colored Citizen
- Leviathan: Watercolors of Whales from William Jardine's The Naturalist's Library
- Travel and Exploration in the 18th and Early 19th Centuries: A View of the World through the Art of the Explorers